PATNA: At least 32 people, including nine children, were killed over the weekend by lightning strikes in the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand, officials said yesterday.
“About 24 people, including seven children, were killed on Saturday and Sunday by bolts of lightning across Bihar,” State Disaster Management Minister Renu Kumari Kushwaha said.
In Jharkhand, eight people, including two children, died, said Puran Mahto, an official in the state’s Dhanbad district said.
Torrential rains and strong winds uprooted trees, damaged houses and brought down power cables across the region on Sunday night. Lightning strikes during the monsoon are common but the weekend toll was unusually high.
AFP
